Marriott International Poised to Spend $500M with Women-Owned Businesses in 2019

BETHESDA, MD—Marriott International Inc. expects to spend $500 million in 2019 with women-owned businesses for goods and services, according to the company.

The figure—which includes spending at Marriott International’s managed hotels and at corporate—represents a near doubling of Marriott’s annual spend with women-owned businesses compared to four years ago. In 2015, the company pledged to reach this milestone by 2020.

“We are incredibly proud to reach our goal of spending $500 million with women-owned businesses and to accomplish it one year earlier than we initially projected,” said Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International. “A diversified supply chain is important to us as a company because it reflects our culture of empowering people through opportunity. But these women-owned businesses aren’t just supporting Marriott. They are contributing to the overall economy by creating jobs, renting commercial space, innovating new product lines and serving as business and civic leaders. Their success is a win for everyone.”

Today, Marriott supports women-owned businesses across the world—including businesses in China that supply its hotels with slippers, coffee and banqueting furniture; businesses in India that provide fragrances, cold press juices and linens; and businesses in the U.S. that provide responsible seafood, artwork for guestrooms and lobbies, and tortillas, the company said.

Additionally, earlier this year, Marriott publicly pledged to spend an additional $100 million over and above current spending levels over the next three years with women-owned businesses worldwide—with half to be spent with businesses in developing countries, such as Belize, Rwanda and Cambodia, according to the company.

Marriott’s forecasted milestone positions the company to meet its broader goal in 2020 of spending $1 billion with diverse-owned businesses—including those owned by minorities, veterans, persons with disabilities and people in the LGBTQ community.

The company’s growing support of women-owned businesses worldwide is one of the goals set forth in Marriott’s sustainability and social impact platform, Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction.

Current Issue

Hotel Business Editor-in-Chief Christina Trauthwein shares some of the highlights of the May 15th issue, including a cover story on COVID-19 and the law, the annual sources of funding report and list, and a piece on streaming content in hotels’ public spaces.